The Technical Working Group of CountrySTAT-Burundi met in Gitega at Hotel Rehoboth from 5 to March 7.

The objective of this meeting was to review, harmonize and validate statistical data on food and agriculture. One of the specific objectives of this meeting is to have a minimum of forty tables ready before the official launch of the CountrySTAT Burundi website.

Mrs Espérance Kamariza, Coordinator of CountrySTAT-Burundi, welcomed the initiative of the framework of the TWG. Once more, she emphasized that one of the advantages of CountrySTAT is to centralize data on agricultural statistics to the benefit of policy makers for the better planning of economic development. Furthermore, CountrySTAT is a valuable tool for researchers to measure progress in the food and agriculture sector.
She added that the visibility of CountrySTAT Burundi at national level and the sustainability of its activities will depend on the work done by the TWG and asked them to make efforts to reach forty tables recommended for the official launch.
After her opening remarks, the participants formed working groups to analyze and harmonize data from different departments: agricultural production, trade and prices, natural resources, fishing and communication. Work in these groups continued until Wednesday March 06 at noon. The afternoon was devoted to the harmonization of data from FAOSTAT and CountrySTAT. The consideration of national data validated by the TWG was recommended instead of making estimations and calculations.
The workshop was closed with a discussion of participants on the preparation of the official launch of the CountrySTAT-Burundi website scheduled for May 2013.